Syrian forces 'fire on Homs protesters'
Witnesses say at least nine killed, including two boys, in latest protests against Syrian president Bashar al-Assad.
Syrian security forces have killed at least nine people in Homs, including an 11-year-old boy, in the latest armed crackdown on protesters, according to three separate witnesses, who spoke to Al Jazeera.
Two boys, named by activists as Aiham al-Ahmad, 11, and 16-year-old Ahmad Bakr were killed when police officers opened fire on Friday, after their vehicle crashed into a wall and was attacked by protesters, according to a witness, who saw the boys shot.
"The four secret police officers opened fire on the protesters with machine guns," one witness said.
The attack took place after officers drove police cars into a crowd of some 2,000 demonstrators in an attempt to disperse them, a second witness said. After hitting several protesters with the vehicles, one of the cars crashed into a wall, prompting the officers to jump out and open fire.
Four other protesters, two of them identified by activists as Raqan Mishrif and Mustapha Ali al-Zakrit, were also killed, while at least seven others were wounded.Two boys, named by activists as Aiham al-Ahmad, 11, and 16-year-old Ahmad Bakr were killed when police officers opened fire on Friday, after their vehicle crashed into a wall and was attacked by protesters, according to a witness, who saw the boys shot.
"The four secret police officers opened fire on the protesters with machine guns," one witness said.
The attack took place after officers drove police cars into a crowd of some 2,000 demonstrators in an attempt to disperse them, a second witness said. After hitting several protesters with the vehicles, one of the cars crashed into a wall, prompting the officers to jump out and open fire.
Al Jazeera is unable to verify the reports because of restrictions on reporting imposed by Syria's government.
In a separate incident, three residents were killed when security forces attempted to storm the hospital in the al-Wa'r neighbourhood of Homs, according to a witness.
Locals responded by forming a human chain around the hospital in an attempt to prevent the police arresting wounded protesters inside, as they have previously done after protesters have been shot. The witness said some locals had shot at the police using personal handguns.
Gunfire in Baniyas
Syria has launched a bloody crackdown over the past two months on an unprecedented uprising against Bashar al-Assad, the country’s president. The government has unleashing security forces to crush dissent and human rights groups say more than 850 people have been killed in the crackdown.
Syria has blamed the unrest on armed thugs and foreign agitators.
A group of local committees in Syria help organise the protests.
According to the organisers, there were also protests on Friday in the Mediterranean port of Baniyas, the central city of Hama and the coastal city of Latakia. It was unclear if there were any casualties.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says that gunfire is continuing in Baniyas.
"The sound of gunfire is being heard now in Baniyas. The demonstration erupted although around 1,000 people from the city and around it have been detained in the last few weeks," a spokesperson for the Observatory told Reuters.
Another person was shot in Sanamin, they said, a village in the region of Deraa, flashpoint of protests, they said.
There was no confirmation of the reports.
Damascus "thugs"
More reports of violence in Damascus, where an eyewitness has told Al Jazeera that pro-regime thugs with iron bars have attacked a group of 500 to 700 worshippers as they left the Dahabiyyeh Mosque in Bab Sriejeh, in the Old City, after Friday prayers.
Protesters had planned a demonstration to start after the prayers but the imam had warned against protests starting from his mosque. The thugs were waiting outside the mosque, said the eyewitness, suggesting they knew a protest was planned.
The protesters in the video can be heard calling for more people to join them in the streets chanting "Feza'a," a traditional Arabic expression for SOS. They also chant: “We are victorious, we are all lions and tigers.” Their signs read: "We don't want anyone who kills our family and children" and "Go away we don't love you". One minute into the video a sign is visible with today’s date on it.
In Midan, a conservative Sunni neighbourhood of Damascus, a demonstration by Abu Ayoub al-Ansari Mosque had barely begun before security forces fired tear gas on around 1,000 protesters, an eyewitness told Al Jazeera.
Several protesters were arrested, he said, including three of his friends.
At the nearby al-Hassan mosque, a protest is currently underway, according to a second eyewitness, with people chanting for an end to the military sieges imposed on Deraa, Baniyas, Homs and Douma and for freedom.
On April 29, Midan saw the largest anti-regime protests in the capital since the uprising began. There is a heavy security presence around the al-Hassan mosque, but the protest has so far have been allowed to proceed.
In Berze, a suburb northeast of Damascus between 500 to 700 protesters are marching from al-Diea Mosque towards to Salaam Mosque where they plan to join other protesters heading to the main square, according to an eyewitness there.
There was a heavy security presence in Berze, said the eyewitness, but the protesters had so far been left alone.
A video uploaded to YouTube appears to show protestors in Berze using back alleys to protest, which activists said was a new strategy to avoid protesters coming under fire from snipers, which have been used to kill protesters on previous Fridays. Al Jazeera cannot independently verify the video's contents.
In Midan, a conservative Sunni neighbourhood of Damascus, a demonstration by Abu Ayoub al-Ansari Mosque had barely begun before security forces fired tear gas on around 1,000 protesters, an eyewitness told Al Jazeera.
Several protesters were arrested, he said, including three of his friends.
At the nearby al-Hassan mosque, a protest is currently underway, according to a second eyewitness, with people chanting for an end to the military sieges imposed on Deraa, Baniyas, Homs and Douma and for freedom.
On April 29, Midan saw the largest anti-regime protests in the capital since the uprising began. There is a heavy security presence around the al-Hassan mosque, but the protest has so far have been allowed to proceed.
In Berze, a suburb northeast of Damascus between 500 to 700 protesters are marching from al-Diea Mosque towards to Salaam Mosque where they plan to join other protesters heading to the main square, according to an eyewitness there.
There was a heavy security presence in Berze, said the eyewitness, but the protesters had so far been left alone.
A video uploaded to YouTube appears to show protestors in Berze using back alleys to protest, which activists said was a new strategy to avoid protesters coming under fire from snipers, which have been used to kill protesters on previous Fridays. Al Jazeera cannot independently verify the video's contents.
Azadi Friday
The Kurdish-majority areas of Syria's north-east saw smaller than expected numbers of protesters, according to a Kurdish political activist, despite that today's nationwide demonstrations had been dubbed by organisers as Azadi Friday, the Kurdish word for freedom.
In Qamishli around 3,000 protesters took to the streets calling for toppling the regime, a call that was echoed across the north. In Amouda, some 6,000 protesters demonstrated, in Deir Basiyye around 2,000 and in Ain al-Arab around 2,000, he said. There were also protests in Ras al-Ain.
The numbers were larger than last Friday but well below the tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands opposition organisers hope the Kurds, who have not faced the same level of armed crackdown as protesters elsewhere in Syria, could bring to the street.
"The governor of the region had warned all state employees that they would face dismissal if they participated in any protests," said the activist. Over the past week, some 250 activists in the area had been arrested and interrogated in a major campaign by the regime, he said, with 45 formally charged with conducting illegal demonstrations.
"All Syrians agreed to use the Kurdish word for freedom today in solidarity as the regime is trying to divide Arabs, Kurds and Assyrians in the area," he said. "The regime is also trying to accuse the Kurds of working for foreign interests and of working towards a separate Kurdistan, which is not true."
The Kurdish-majority areas of Syria's north-east saw smaller than expected numbers of protesters, according to a Kurdish political activist, despite that today's nationwide demonstrations had been dubbed by organisers as Azadi Friday, the Kurdish word for freedom.
In Qamishli around 3,000 protesters took to the streets calling for toppling the regime, a call that was echoed across the north. In Amouda, some 6,000 protesters demonstrated, in Deir Basiyye around 2,000 and in Ain al-Arab around 2,000, he said. There were also protests in Ras al-Ain.
The numbers were larger than last Friday but well below the tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands opposition organisers hope the Kurds, who have not faced the same level of armed crackdown as protesters elsewhere in Syria, could bring to the street.
"The governor of the region had warned all state employees that they would face dismissal if they participated in any protests," said the activist. Over the past week, some 250 activists in the area had been arrested and interrogated in a major campaign by the regime, he said, with 45 formally charged with conducting illegal demonstrations.
"All Syrians agreed to use the Kurdish word for freedom today in solidarity as the regime is trying to divide Arabs, Kurds and Assyrians in the area," he said. "The regime is also trying to accuse the Kurds of working for foreign interests and of working towards a separate Kurdistan, which is not true."
Source: Al Jazeera and agencies
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